SUNFLOWER FAMILY. Compositae. 



A handsome plant, which is noticeable 

 African Senecio ,. . , , ,_, 



Serido elegans on account of its unusual colonng. The 

 White and mauve stout, smooth stem is two or three feet 

 Spring tall, with smooth, slightly thickish leaves, 



the margins rolled back, a very peculiar 

 shade of light bright yellowish-green. The handsome 

 flowers are an inch and three- eighths across, with bright 

 deep yellow centers and white rays shading to mauve at 

 the tips, and form a large flat-topped cluster. This is a 

 native of Africa and is not yet common in this country, 

 but grows on the sand dunes near San Francisco. 



There are many kinds of Baccharis, all American, 

 chiefly shrubs. 



A branching evergreen shrub, from two 

 Groundsel-tree t fiye feet hi h with smoot h dark green, 

 Chaparral Broom , . , , , 



Baccharis leathery leaves, an inch or less long, rather 



pilularis wedge-shaped, usually coarsely toothed. 



Whitish, yellowish The flower-heads are very small, without 

 Autumn ravSj and are crow d e d a t the ends of the 



' twigs. Some plants have only stamina te 

 flowers and some only pistillate ones, and the effect of the 

 two sorts is very different, for the staminate flowers are 

 ugly, but the pistillate ones are provided with quantities 

 of long, white, silky pappus, giving a beautiful, snowy 

 appearance to the shrub. This is very variable, being a 

 fine shrub in favorable situations, and is common along the 

 coast on the sand dunes, on low hills and on high mountain 

 slopes. 



There are a great many kinds of Aster, most abundant in 

 North America, difficult to distinguish, the flowers never 

 yellow. Though there are some fine ones in the West, they 

 are not so numerous or so handsome as in the East. 



This is one of the commonest kinds and 

 Chamisstois is ^ uite handsome, from two to five feet 

 Purple high, with leafy, branching stems and 



Summer, autumn alternate, lance-shaped leaves, from two 

 Cal., Oreg. to fiye i nc h es i ong) usually toothless, 



without leaf-stalks. The many flowers are an inch or more 

 across, with yellow centers and white, violet, or purple 

 rays, the bracts of the involucre in several rows, with short 

 and rounded tips. This is rather variable. A. radullnus, 

 Broad-leaf Aster, has stiff, rough leaves, sharply toothed 

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